


Last Summer/First Love

by Aglaeia



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Awkward Romance, Consensual, Crushes, Enthusiastic Consent, Falling In Love, First Dates, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29960406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aglaeia/pseuds/Aglaeia
Summary: Hinata is in his 3rd year at Karasuno and for his last summer break organized a big reunion with all of their friends and foes from the last years.In a jumble of all the people he gets to reunite with, he has his hopes up to see one particular setter, Miya Atsumu, again and ask him to keep his promise of setting for him.
Relationships: Atsuhina - Relationship, Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu, Miya Atsumu/Hinata Shouyou, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	1. Reunion

It was a sunny day in Tokyo, the summer break had just started but the whole Karasuno Volleyball team was still together as if it was just a regular weekday. Just that it wasn't a regular weekday at all, not to the members of the Volleyball Club, and especially not to Hinata, no, today was the day of the big reunion.

Hinata had been working hard to reach out to everyone he'd gotten to know over the last three years to organize this one big reunion in the last summer break during his last year at Karasuno. Well, arguably, Yachi and Takeda had done most of the actual organizing, but it had been Hinata's idea, and thanks to his overwhelming supply of phone numbers and email addresses of about everyone in the Japanese highschool volleyball league, reaching out to most everyone had been made possible.

And so, after weeks and weeks of anticipation, the day had finally come.

Not only would they get to see the older Karasuno Team members again, but all of their friends and foes from their rivaling teams.

It wasn't quite clear who'd all show up, but at the very least the boys from Nekoma, Fukuroudani, Datekou, and even some of the Aoba Johsai members had agreed to drop by.

Some of the other teams had been harder to convince. Ushijima had only agreed to come after Hinata had assured him he'd drag Oikawa out with them and the Inarizaki players were all obnoxiously busy it seemed, with Osamu Miya being the only one to definitively confirm his appearance.

Either which way, it would be a huge meet-up.

"Hinata", a calm voice called out the very much lost in thought boy's name. Hinata was staring out the window, watching the trees pass them by as the bus carried them closer and closer to their destination. He had a smile permanently tacked on his face and his unruly hair seemed to live even more of an independent life than it usually did. He seemed to be, in all senses of the word, gleaming with excitement for the coming days.

"Hinata", the voice called louder this time, following up the exclamation with a swift hit over the daydreaming idiots head.

"-ack! Aaahhh- Kageyama! What- what do you want?", Hinata exclaimed, shielding his head from more possible incoming hits.

"Don't hit him too hard, we can't have him losing even more brain cells", a third voice interjected from a row behind them, but neither Hinata nor Kageyama paid it any mind. They didn't have to turn around to know Tsukishima was giving them a belittling grin.

"Shut up."

"Yeah! Shut up!"

The two agreed and with that Hinata had forgiven Kageyama for hitting him over the head.

"What did you want?"

"You were drooling."

"Wha- No, I wasn't!"

"Yeah, you were."

"I don't drool! If anything you drool- You were just bored, weren't you?"

"..."

Hinata pouted up at him. Their relationship had hardly changed over the years. Or at least that's what it felt like, in reality, it had changed a lot.

They were still fighting and competing on almost everything, but their mutual animosity had turned into a strong bond. Now they were egging each other on to be stronger and keep improving. They had become very close and while neither would admit it, they valued each other's opinions above all else.

"Either way we're almost there, so it's a good time for you to stop daydreaming."

Hinata shifted around to look out the window again: he was right, there they were, back in the suburbs of Tokyo.

  
  
  


When the bus parked near the familiar Gym and the Karasuno team got out, a lot of the other guests had already arrived, ahead all the guys from the local teams, who'd seemed to have been there for a while already, having set up everything needed for a big reunion around the place.

Hinata had barely set foot on the premises when he was already being swarmed by all of his Tokyo friends.

"Chibi-Chan!", A familiar cocky voice called out, grabbing Hinata by the shoulder and pulling him in tight for a hug.

"Ahaha- Bokuto-san, careful I-", Hinata tried to reply but all the air was already being pressed out of his lungs by the tight embrace, "Ghhhh-", he gasped for air.

"Bokuto", he was being saved by a soft, yet demanding voice pulling the spiky-haired ace back into reality. Akaashi still had the most influence over his former teammate after all, "Don't crush him before the others got to see him..."

"Oohhh! Shrimpy!", A third voice, which Hinata recognized to belong to Kuroo, Nekomas former captain, interjected, "Popular as always, eh? Mhm-? Where'd you leave Kageyama? Aren't you guys inseparable usually... At least that's what Tsukki says." He looked around in confusion.

Right! Kageyama! Hinata turned around, looking behind him where Kageyama had just gotten out of the bus with him, but he wasn't there anymore.

Huh? He squinted his eyes, trying to look past all the tall figures around him, and lo and behold, he spotted his best friend and setter somewhere far off in the distance blending in with the crowd already. He must've saved himself the second he'd sensed Bokuto's incoming attack. Typical.

"Mhm! Tsukki! Where's that guy too? Man, Chibi-Chan, your team sure is good at hiding!", Bokuto added to Kuroo’s inquisitions.

"Ahh haha, I'm sure they're just unpacking! Kuroo-san- where's Kenma? I have something to show him!"

"Mh- Kenma? Ah, he's just around the corner, hiding from the masses- don't worry, he's been nagging everyone about when you'd arrive for a while now- he'll be happy to see you!"

Hinata was already gleaming with happiness, but hearing his friend had been waiting for him, made him all the more giddy. He nodded, indicating he'd go look for him now, before taking off in the direction Kuroo had pointed him at.

  
  
  


Kenma was exactly where Hinata had thought, hidden away in a shadowy place, away from the crowd, playing games on his handheld.

If it had been any other person, Hinata would have hugged him, after all, they hadn't seen each other in a long while, but he knew that Kenma valued his personal space and wasn't all that fond of physical affection, so he spared him the gesture.

After the two young men had rekindled and Hinata had promised he'd check out a new game Kenma was currently playing, with him later that night, the lively ginger still had to say hi to almost everyone else at the reunion. A task that proved to be more difficult to do than anticipated, with the sheer amount of people that had shown up: Hinata ended up jumping around from place to place, talking and laughing with most everyone there. He got to see his former team members, meet their new friends, got to know players from teams he hadn't spoken to as much before, and most importantly collect even more emails and phone numbers than he'd already had.

And as he was all that occupied, the day passed much faster than he would've liked.

It was already well into the afternoon and some of the guests were getting ready to leave or had left already when Hinata spotted a face he'd been looking out for: Osamu Miya, the more mild-tempered of the Miya twins. Well technically, Hinata had been more on the lookout for his bleach-blond brother, but still, he was happy to see either of the Inarizaki players.

"Sorry- I'll be right back-", he proclaimed to the person he was standing next to currently, while already moving his feet to carry him over to Osamu, who, upon closer inspection, was accompanied by Suna Rintaro, the team's former middle blocker, if he remembered correctly.

"Miya-San! Suna-San!", he called out excitedly, waving his arm around rashly to catch the two taller men's attention.

"Mhmm... Hinata, right?", it was Osamu that noticed him first, his face as calm and kind as ever. He held a plate filled with food in one hand and a vegetable skewer in the other, his intentions for coming seemed clear. Suna on the other hand had no food in hand at all.

"Yeah! Karasuno! I played against you two years ago-"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember- little chibi-chan with the crazy quick attack, was a really good game, I wouldn't forget that", he said, waving his skewer holding hand apologetically, as if to clarify he hadn't intended to insinuate he'd forgotten about the team that beat his at nationals, though that's not how

Hinata had taken it at all in the first place.

"Mhm! Mhm!", the airhead nodded excitedly, "I'm so glad you came! You too, Suna-san!"

The black-haired man nodded in light acknowledgment. He was similar to Kenma in that he seemed out of place within a big crowd like this.

"It was hard getting ahold of you guys from Inarizaki- you're all so busy, so I was very happy to hear that you'd plan on coming at least! I'm glad you could convince Suna to come with you-"

"Ah yeah, the guys are always preoccupied, it's hard to get ahold of them even when you have their phone numbers-", Osamu nodded in reply, chomping down on his food now.

"I, uhm- Miya-san"-

"Osamu is fine"

"Ah, oh- okay, O-Osamu-san, I was wondering..."

Hinata hadn't had many opportunities to talk to the Inarizaki players after their first nationals. They had briefly met at some matches or during training camps, but never really had enough time to talk much again.

And even though it had been two years now and it had most likely just been a throwaway line, ever since that game at nationals, Hinata hadn't been able to stop thinking about how Atsumu Miya had declared he'd set for him one day.

Even though it made sense for a setter to say he'd want to set for a spiker, to Hinata those words had meant a lot.

Being at Karasuno had let him experience what it meant to have a team, for the first time, what it was like to have someone set for you, and what it felt like to stay on the court for as long as possible and score points and fly.

He loved his team and he loved playing with Kageyama as his setter, it wasn't like he was longing for someone to toss to him anymore as he had been in middle school.

And yet when Atsumu said that, Hinata, for the first time, felt that it was him that was special.

For the first time, it wasn't Kageyamas, the brilliant setter, that made it possible for him to play and stay ok the court, it wasn't his strong team that was being praised, no, Atsumu had looked at him and had decided that it was him he wanted to set for.

And so even though that line may very well have just been said in the spur of the moment and hadn't been tied to any real promise at all, Hinata wanted to hold on to the feeling it had caused in him. And he wanted to ask Atsumu to set for him, as he had promised.

"I was wondering if Atsumu was going to come by as well-", he finished his sentence.

"Mh-?" Osamu looked down at him, his face stuffed with food, he was clearly enjoying himself, though the mention of his hot-headed brother had caused his face to sour a little bit, "'Tsumu?", he mumbled through his filled cheeks, before taking a big gulp, so he could talk clearly: "Don't mention his name too much, or you might end up summoning him."

Hinata was about to laugh at that when he was interrupted by Suna: "Oh too late-"

Two big hands grabbed the small spiker by his shoulders, they were gentle, but still, the sheer weight of them caused Hinata to stumble a little bit, though the firm grip on his shoulders kept him in place.

"Shouyou!", a voice behind him proclaimed.

That name.

Hinata had gotten used to all sorts of nicknames over the years, Chibi-Chan, Shrimpy, Carrot Top, even how Kageyama called him Dumbass felt natural at this point, but the way Atsumu called him Shouyo still always felt jarring for some reason.

It wasn't only that nobody else called him by his first name, other than Kenma, despite him being close with a bunch of his teammates, it was also the way how Atsumu just said it so casually as if it was only natural he'd address him that way.

He'd done that from the very beginning. During their first game against each other, Atsumu had called him Shouyou, despite not having talked to him before at all. He just took this name that supposedly was reserved for close friends and family to address him by and adopted it for himself, without ever thinking about whether it was appropriate for him to do or not.

In that way, it was similar to how he had just proclaimed he'd toss to Hinata, in the middle of a game where they were on opposite sides.

Somehow the way Atsumu was so nonchalantly breaking unspoken rules of common courtesy seemed to have stuck with Hinata, for better or for worse.

"I was looking everywhere for you, I thought you'd be easier to find with your orange hair and all but I guess you're still just too small...", Atsumu went on, ruffling Hinata's unruly hair now. He was standing behind him, leaning over him from the back and giving him a half-lidded idiotic grin, he looked to be in a good mood.

"A-Atsumu!", the shorter man was still collecting himself while Atsumu was still talking and so he didn't quite catch the little jab at his height, "Ah! I was looking for you too, I just asked Osamu about you actually-"

"Oh? Did you?", Atsumu, who was now resting his head atop of Hinata's, as if it were the most normal thing to do, looked over at Osamu, that had finished his skewer and was moving on to the food on his plate by now, "Well! Good thing I found you! Long time no see, huh? When Osamu told me you were organizing a reunion I did all I could to clear my schedule for it-"

"He's lying, he's been crying about being bored for weeks now", Osamu interjected with his mouth still full of food. Suna just lightly chuckled.

But Hinata didn't really care, he smiled anyway, "I'm glad you could make it! But you could've let me know you were planning to come!"

"Tch- ah, well it was all very last minute you know~", Atsumu replied with a nonchalant grin at Hinata and a death glare at Osamu, forbidding his twin from interjecting again, though that was hardly threatening him at all.

Hinata lightly pulled away from Atsumu grasp now, taking a step back so he could turn around and properly face him: "Atsumu, I-"

"Ah anyway, I was looking for you because I wanted to see if you wanted to spike some tosses for me", Atsumu interrupted him before he could even start his sentence, "Samu is right, I've been a bit bored without training lately... And I've been wanting to set for you for a while now, remember?"

Hinata felt his chest tighten a bit, almost like he'd forgotten to breathe for a little too long. He remembered, so it wasn't just a throwaway line after all. Hinata tried to compose himself, but everything about him seemed to radiate happiness and excitement: A big smile had spread across his face and his cheeks felt warm as blood was rushing into them.

He had tensed up from head to toe, even his hair seemed to be spikier than usual.

"Yes!", he spat out as soon as the question had been asked. Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes, this was what Hinata had been looking forward to all along. Up until just this moment he hadn't even been sure whether Atsumu was going to be there at all, even less so if he was going to be willing to toss to him and now here he was asking him instead. He really couldn't grasp how lucky he was.

"Yes, ah- the... The hall is open, we can go right now!", he was tripping over his own words, almost biting his tongue with how excited he was.

"Suna, Osamu!", He turned around to the other two again who seemed utterly disinterested in the two airheads' conversation, "It was nice seeing you again! I hope we can talk more tomorrow!", He quickly said, before looking back up to Atsumu, to let him know they could go.

"Don't leave without me Samu- wait, alright?", the blonde twin added, before turning around as well to follow Hinata to the gym.

Hinata felt his heart pounding quickly in his chest.

His feet were firmly grounded on the gym floor, but much like a crow, he couldn't wait to take off and fly as high as he possibly could.

As much as he'd thought about having the other set for him, it had made him none the more prepared for it actually happening now.

Atsumu stood a couple of feet away from him, casually spinning a ball in his hand, he seemed to be much more composed about the situation than Hinata. Well, it wasn't that big of a deal for him, most likely, after all, he was a setter for a big team now, he got to toss to amazing spikers all the time. Hinata felt that he was really nothing special in that sense.

"Ready?", Atsumu’s voice sounded from across the hall, much calmer now than when they'd been with the others.

On closer inspection, he was calmer in general. His stance was looser and his face more relaxed, the smile gracing his lips seemed more genuine too.

"Yeah!", Hinata replied quickly, stretching his arms and legs as proof and then getting into position.

He angled his knees slightly, sliding his feet over the shining gym floor, to get into the right position. He had his hands down, though his fingers were itching to finally get to touch the ball and slam it over the net.

The two men locked eyes for a brief second before Atsumu threw the ball up into the air and set it.

Hinata didn't need to think, his feet carried him over to where Atsumu had set the ball on their own.

He felt his muscles tensing as he prepared to jump and without a second thought he leaped up into the sky, his feet leaving the ground past behind them. His eyes locked on the ball, spinning perfectly right in front of him, he raised his arm and brought it forward in a quick yet precise motion, smashing it over the net and onto the other side of the court.

Just a few milliseconds, though they felt like an eternity, later his feet reconnected with the floor.

Both men had their gazes locked on the ball bouncing on the other side of the field, the sound of it echoing through the gym.

Blood rushed into Hinata's palm now that the impact had subsided, the tingly sensation pulling him back to reality. He looked down; his hand had turned a light shade of red. That was it. That feeling of euphoria, the rush of hitting a perfectly set ball. His heartbeat ran fast, pounding loudly I'm his ears, he looked over at Atsumu, the amazement was written all over his face: "That was incredible!", He called out over to him, "That- that ball, it was right in front of me, like- whaaah! The perfect height! Usually, only Kageyama can set a ball like that to me! That was! Wow!" Without even noticing it he had started to go off on a tirade, wildly flailing his hands to illustrate his point.

Atsumu was taken aback by the ginger man's sudden burst of excitement, his eyes widened a little bit as he watched Hinata praise his toss, but then he started laughing. A light chuckle turned into a big happy laugh and so he reached over to the excitable little spiker, wrapping his arms around his head and ruffling his hair, "Aaahhhahah, yes- that's it, that's why I wanted to set for you", he laughed softly, pulling him in a little closer as he spoke.

Hinata's cheeks turned red, not out of exertion this time, but pure abashment. There it was again, that nonchalant breaking of social rules that had made Hinata so drawn to him in the first place. "Aaah... Yes... I- about that I...", He muttered timidly, his body tense, not daring to move away from Atsumu as he was being held, "What... What made you... Why did you say what you said to me that day?", he managed to piece together his question, though not without the blush on his cheeks deepening even more.

Atsumu let go of the smaller man now, leaving his already unruly hair a disheveled mess, "Why I said I'd set for you one day?", He echoed his question, a smile on his face as he watched the other’s face grow progressively more red, "Because you're interesting, of course.

I completely underestimated you that day, but seeing you on the court made me understand that you were someone I'd want to toss to. As a spiker, you are amazing." His voice sounded clear and honest as he spoke, no sense of sarcasm or mocking to be found in it, it was just his genuine feelings talking.

Hinata looked up at him again now, his eyes big as he watched him talk, though his expression had turned more serious now.

"I'm not amazing", he interjected, with the same sense of honesty in his voice as there had been in Atsumu's, "I'm not particularly good, I still struggle with receives, the only reason I am where I am, is because Kageyama is such a genius setter."

"Shouyou.", Atsumu’s voice was deeper now, almost reprimanding in tone. He had his gaze fixed on Hinata, "Kageyama is only a good setter because he has a Spiker that can keep up with him", He explained his position calmly, "Not just anyone will be able to do that. Kageyama might be a genius when it comes to volleyball, but without another genius being able to keep up with him, that leads him nowhere," he then reached over to gently poke Hinata's forehead, "You're underestimating yourself, didn't you say you'd be an ace?"

"I-I am the ace!", Hinata quickly interjected, his brows furrowing around where Atsumu had poked him.

"Yeah", Atsumu gave him a crooked grin, "Exactly. But you're not just any ace. You're the ace I want to set to. So make sure you join my team once you're done with school, alright?"

Hinata's face grew even hotter now. How could this guy be so blunt all the time? And that with barely even knowing Hinata at all. 

"Wait… you… you want me to join your team?", The words left his lips before he could even really process his thoughts. He had said that, hadn't he? He just told him to join his professional team after school. If their interaction two years ago hadn't flattered Hinata enough, this sure did. The steady pounding in his chest sped up a little.

"Why, yeah, of course- I said I'd be your setter one day, didn't I?"

"You said you'd set for me! Not be my setter! Aren't you setting for me right now?"

"Hah, yeah, but that hardly counts. That's only a couple of tosses because I couldn't wait longer", Atsumu had a cocky grin on his face as he talked, "But eventually I want to set for you in a game, I want you to know I can toss you the perfect ball- with you on my team our enemies won't stand a chance."

Atsumu leaned down to be at eye level with Hinata, his grinning face close to his. 

"So don't forget that. I called dibs on you. You'll get a lot of offers once you're out of Highschool, but you gotta join my team."

Playfully he poked Hinata's forehead again, making him stumble a little bit before he straightened out his back again and grabbed another ball from the box.

"Now, wanna hit another toss? We can't do just one-", he added laughing, spinning the ball on his fingertip, probably to show off a little.

Hinata had almost forgotten they had been hitting tosses at all, that's how caught up he was in their conversation. 

_Dibs on him_ , huh? Did this mean Atsumu had been thinking about their match as much as he had then? If he was this serious about it, he must've. 

"Y-yeah!", He called out in response. Maybe not, he was much more blasé about this type of stuff than Hinata after all. But it still made him happy to know Atsumu thought he was this much of a valuable player.

In a quick motion, he turned around and leaped over to the side, before jumping up high to hit another one of Atsumu's perfectly placed tosses.

The two hit ball after ball until the ball basket was all emptied and then they collected them and started all over again. They didn't really notice how much time had passed already, only when Atsumu started to break into a sweat did the taller of the two men call for a break.

"Ahhh… you really have unlimited energy", he stated, wiping his forehead. Hinata was sweating too, much more so than Atsumu even, but he showed no signs of wanting to stop, if anything he seemed more eager with every ball he hit. "Usually I'm the one that wants to keep going. Guess I'll have to improve my stamina if I want to train with you." He chuckled, picking a ball up from the floor and tossing it back into the basket.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you go on for that long-", he apologized quickly, bowing his head to Atsumu, but the blonde just lightly patted his head in response.

"That's not what I said", he corrected him, before picking up another ball, "I want to keep going, too."

"Then you'll toss to me again?", Hinata's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Yeah, whenever you want."

"Tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"I can't wait!"

Atsumu laughed. He placed the last ball back into the basket, his gaze lingering on them for a little longer before he threw his head over his shoulder and glanced back at the excited redhead. His expression was hard to read but through the half-lidded smile it seemed that he was both puzzled and enamored by the Karasuno spiker, in a way.

"Actually…", he added calmly, taking a couple of steps to close the gap between them, "The reunion doesn't proceed till the afternoon right?" He reached over to push some of Hinata's hair out of his face, taking his time doing so. "Everyone wanted to use the day to go visit Tokyo. Do you wanna come with me?"

He had his eyes firmly locked on Hinata, his expression gentle yet strangely serious.

"Oh-", Hinata looked right back at him, go visit Tokyo with Atsumu? That sounded nice, he probably knew the city much better than he did, "Yeah that would be great! You could show us some hidden-"

"I actually meant just us two.", Atsumu interjected, correcting Hinata's assumption.

Hinata's face turned as red as his hair.

"...just us?"

"Yeah, just us."

Hinata didn't answer immediately, his heart was pounding rapidly in his chest, making it hard for him to focus his thoughts.

"You know, it's just... there's some places I think would be best appreciated if it were just us, is all I'm thinking- I think you'd enjoy it but if course you don't ha-"

"Okay", this time it was Hinata that interrupted him. His face had changed expression, it was now him that looked serious, almost as if he'd accepted a challenge of sorts. In turn, Atsumu's face was now showing the faintest tint of red on his cheeks instead. "Let's go see Tokyo together tomorrow."

The taller of the two was about to answer when they were cut off by the gym door flying open. 

"AAATSUMU!", Osamu's annoyed voice cut through the air, as he complained about his brother, "How much longer are you gonna make me wait, huh? Everyone's leaving and there's no more food!" He leaned against the gym door in a dramatic fashion, sighing audibly to underline his point. Just then he noticed that he had evidently gotten in the middle of something. "Oh", he muttered, opening his mouth to utter some snarky remark, but ended up saving it for later instead, "Sorry Hinata, Suna already left and I want to get home. Let's go 'Tsumu."

Atsumu clenched his jaw at his twin's appearance, disturbing their conversation, but forced a smile on his face anyway for Hinata's sake. "...Seems I got to go", he huffed through gritted teeth, "I will see you tomorrow then?"

Hinata nodded in response, "It's okay- uhm… get… get home safely", he wasn't quite sure what to say, having Osamu listen in on what they were saying added an extra layer of awkwardness to the situation.

"Alright. I'll pick you up in the morning", the other sighed. For a second it seemed like Atsumu was going to hug Hinata, but he didn't and instead took a step back and turned around, starting towards Osamu at the door.

Hinata stayed behind, standing in the big hall, his heart still racing as he watched Atsumu's tall frame walk away from him. He really was quite handsome, wasn't he, no wonder he had so many fans.

"Shouyou", Atsumu's voice pulled Hinata out of his thoughts, "See you tomorrow." The setter gave Hinata another smile, before exiting the hall together with his brother.

Osamu just waved lightly at Hinata, giving him a little nod, before patting Atsumu on the back, "Got yourself a date?", He said teasingly, carefully not to speak too loudly.

"Oh shut up", Atsumu replied, smacking away his hand.

And with that Hinata was left alone in the gym. He had a myriad of thoughts running through his head and couldn't grasp a single one of them. All he knew was that he was going to spend the next day with Atsumu and that he was awfully excited for it.


	2. Penguins

Hinata had been heavily castigated by Kenma upon his late return to the group, after all, he'd promised to check out this new game with him, and to make up for it he was made to play games with him until deep into the night. 

The teams that had arrived from outside were allowed to sleep on the training grounds and even though Kenma didn't belong to this demographic, he chose to stay with the Karasuno team anyway, justifying it by saying he'd had to drive all the way there so he might as well stay there. None of the other guys minded, except for Kuroo, who'd insisted Kenma could stay at his place instead, but the introverted Kenma persistently refused until Kuroo eventually gave up and let him stay.

So when Hinata woke up early in the morning the next day he was predictably tired. The others had already let him sleep in a little bit, having prepared breakfast without his help, but when Yamaguchi came to wake him up, he was barely able to drag him out of bed and down into the dining hall with them.

"Are you not tired at all?", he asked Kenma, who seemed to be doing perfectly fine, despite having slept as little as he had, in a whiny voice, before letting out a big, hearty yawn.

Kenma just held up a cup of coffee in response and Hinata nodded. Made sense.

"That guy is crazy by the way, none of us could drink his brew", Tsukishima added, before sitting down, with a perfectly made latte for himself, of course, his coffee was just as neat and precise as everything else about him. Meanwhile, Kenma didn't seem to like at all that the moody blocker had chosen him of all people to sit next to and quickly inched away from him.

The general chatter continued on all through the breakfast and by the end of it, though not exactly reinvigorated, Hinata did at least feel a little bit more awake. In turn for not having to help with preparing the meal, he helped out extra diligently with cleaning duties and then ran back to get ready for the day.

He noticed that he wasn't all that sure when Atsumu was planning to arrive, he had said he'd come by in the morning, but that was a wide time frame and Hinata had no idea what morning meant to the blond. In fact, if he thought about it more, Atsumu seemed like the type to sleep in late, so possibly his morning was closer to the early afternoon than it was morning. Deciding that it didn't really matter what exactly the timetable was like, Hinata decided to stop bothering to wonder about it. He had nothing to do anyway, so he'd just help out with chores around until Atsumu would show up. 

However, when Hinata stepped out of the building, it appeared that his worries had been unjustified: Atsumu was already there, and by the looks of it, he'd been there a while. The handsome setter was resting against a wall, playing with what looked like the keys to a car. Upon seeing Hinata though he quickly raised himself up, gave him a little wave, and then, with just a couple of big steps, made his way over to him: "Morning."

"Morning", Hinata replied, smiling at him, "Didn't take you for an early bird."

"I'm not- but I didn't want to leave you waiting.", he admitted, before falling silent.

They both looked to the side for a little bit, avoiding each other's gaze.

"So, uh… wanna leave?", Atsumu eventually asked, looking back over at Hinata.

"Yeah! Yeah! Just uhm… one second…", Hinata quickly replied, looking right back at Atsumu and then, as their eyes met, quickly down, pretending to be looking for something in his bag, "Ah, there-", he pulled out his ID, "I'm all set."

"Hinata", a voice called out from behind them. Kageyama just stepped out of the building, followed by Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, they seemed to be ready to start their day as well. "Are you ready?", Kageyama's gaze shifted from Hinata to Atsumu, his face not showing any signs of animosity towards the other setter, "Ah, Miya-san, you're here too." 

Atsumu was evidently a bit startled by this dry assessment of the situation, but he caught himself quickly, "Kageyama Tobio! Long time no see- yes, I'm here to pick up Shouyou.", He explained himself quickly, his usual cocky smile back on his face, now that he was talking to someone else.

"Ah", Kageyama just replied, looking from Atsumu to Hinata and then sighing a little, before nodding, "Alright then, let's go."

Hinata and Atsumu both looked a little confused, "...let's go?", Atsumu carefully dared ask.

"Yeah, let's go, see Tokyo, the earlier we leave the be-", Kageyama hadn't even finished his sentence yet when he was cut off by Tsukishima erupting into laughter behind him and with him Yamaguchi who tried his best in being polite and keeping it to a chuckle.

Tsukishima however didn't offer Kageyama that same kindness, still cackling perniciously, he said: "Kageyama, you can't just invite yourself to a _date_ like that-" 

Both Hinata and Atsumu turned a deep shade of red at that. "It's not a date!", they both called out in near unison.

"Huh?", Kageyama just raised an eyebrow at Tsukishima, "They're saying it's not a date." 

"Well _clearly_ it is a date", Tsukishima retorted dismissively.

"S-stop saying that word!", Hinata objected helplessly, his whole entire face indistinguishable in color from his hair.

Yamaguchi now looked like he was about to cry from holding in his laughter this hard and so the current captain of the team tugged on his boyfriend's sleeve, motioning for Tsukishima to stop teasing them. 

"Fine, fine, alright, you're coming with us, either way, Kageyama. You'd just annoy those two.", he decided in a slightly more serious tone now, grabbing Kageyama by his collar to drag him away with them.

But Kageyama just smacked his hand away. "Alright, but I'll talk to them first.", he said sternly, before Tsukishima could reprimand him. 

That concession seemed to be enough for the two others and so they simply gave the 3 a nod and scurried off towards Yachi who was already outside waiting for them.

Kageyama waited for them to be out of earshot before he eyeing Atsumu closely with his dark blueish eyes. The atmosphere between the three of them seemed to drop in temperature as Kageyama's icy stare pierced right through the other. "Where are you taking him?", He asked eventually, his voice as cold as his gaze, though he seemed to make an attempt not to sound all too threatening, as Hinata could tell from the fact Kageyama was furrowing and un-furrowing his brows continuously to lighten up his face.

Atsumu was holding onto his keys as if his life depended on them. He knew the Karasuno genius had a habit of looking disinterested and at times even scary, but the aura he was exuding now felt like it could potentially kill a man. Still, he had an awkward smile fixed on his face. Part of him didn't like that he had to report to this younger guy as if he were some type of authority. The other part of him knew that he was close friends at least with Hinata, so this was probably out of concern. Even so, it didn't sit right with him the way Kageyama was posturing himself, but in the end, he decided to play along with it for harmony's sake. "Ah, uhm… a couple of places I know around Tokyo, kind of a… surprise, so if you don't mind.", he answered carefully, "I'll bring him back for the reunion this afternoon, don't worry. And hey, if I don't, you can kidnap Osamu in turn, how about that?"

Kageyama didn't laugh at his joke, he looked entirely unimpressed with it, though that wasn't the fault of the joke perse and more of a general facial expression of his. Without even acknowledging what Atsumu had said, he took a step forward. The two men were about the same height, both towering above Hinata, who, despite having grown a bit himself, still wasn't anywhere near their general heights. "He's my ace, so bring him back once you're done with him. I need him for games.", Kageyama said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone of voice, "If he overexerts himself and can't play, I'll blame you for it."

Atsumu's grin widened a bit at that, he could tell Kageyama was meaning to threaten him. "Sure", he replied without hesitation, "I'll take responsibility-"

Just then Hinata was fed up with being left out of the conversation and stepped between them, shoving Atsumu out of the way and grabbing Kageyama by his shirt to pull him down to look at him. "Aye-", he said sternly, glaring at his puzzled friend, "I can take care of myself, I'm not a child-", he then turned around to give Atsumu the same glare, "And I can take responsibility for myself too.", He added, before returning his attention to Kageyama, whom he was still firmly holding in place, "I know what I'm doing okay? I'll be fine." His voice was a bit softer now, but he didn't let go of Kageyama until the setter slowly nodded in response. "Good."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight then", the setter sighed, his icy aura having defrosted somewhat. He glanced over at Atsumu once more, giving him a simple nod, as if to tell him his threat still stood. He then gave Hinata a couple of pats on the head and ruffled his hair, before getting ready to follow the other third years over to Yachi, "Have fun, alright?"

Hinata nodded at him, watching his best friend leave to join the others, he then turned to face Atsumu once more, "Alright. Now we can go.", He sighed, sounding almost a little exhausted as he smiled at the other. 

Atsumu, too, was watching Kageyama leave, only turning his gaze back over at Hinata as he was being spoken to. "Yeah, yeah- let's go", he agreed, letting out a laugh to alleviate his own sense of awkwardness from the situation. He hesitated for a second, his fingers twitching as if he were about to offer Hinata his hand, but then just turned on his heel, mumbled something inaudible to himself, and started to walk towards the parking lot.

  
  
  


The drive in Atsumu's car did a lot to lighten the mood again. Hinata and the blond Miya twin caught up on what they had been doing the last two years. Hinata told him about how he and Kageyama had grown closer and what it was like once their older teammates had graduated and moved on and how it affected their team. He told him about how he had managed to take on the ace position in the team and how strange it felt to be training new first years now and having them look up to him. Meanwhile, Atsumu told him about what it was like playing in a professional team and how very different the stakes felt from his highschool times. He also explained to him how it came to be that his brother Osamu had quit volleyball entirely and how they'd initially had a big fight over it, but now he's come to appreciate, that Osamu's talents were most definitely well placed in the cooking industry and in the same breath promised him to be treating him to some Onigiri at his twin's shop if he ever came by their hometown.

With them chatting casually like this, the drive didn't seem to take half as long as it usually would and so they soon found themselves in the sunshine city, Ikebukuro, a fairly new part of Tokyo, known for its huge aquarium. Atsumu parked in a big garage a couple of blocks away, so they had a little bit of a stroll ahead of them, but neither of them minded at all.

Hinata looked around curiously, he had been to Tokyo a couple of times, but really not long enough at all to know any of the specific places, to him, all the huge buildings were intimidating to say the least and the big amount of people on the streets seemed like an attraction all on its own. "Wow, where are we here? Is the Tokyo Tower close? Do you think we'll see celebrities? Have you been here before?", Hinata burst out into questions, not able to keep himself contained at all of the new input around him.

"Oh- Ikebukuro. I don't think so? Uhm, maybe… No, actually, I haven't, not here specifically", Atsumu tried to answer all of Hinata's questions, but he wasn't even sure if the fiery redhead was listening at all, still, he couldn't help but smile, seeing him all excited like this. 

Hinata stopped dead in his tracks, "You haven't?", He asked, with genuine confusion written all over his face, before keeping on walking next to Atsumu again, "I thought you wanted to show me a special place?"

Atsumu quickly looked to the side, hiding a shameful look of feeling caught red-handed. "It is a special place", he doubled down, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "I just haven't been there yet." He gave Hinata a crooked grin, looking almost apologetic as he did, "I did pick it out specifically for you though- I haven't been to Tokyo that often myself either, y'know? But I've been uh… _recommended_ this by good sources.", Atsumu joked. 

Hinata looked up at him, reading his face attentively, and then nodded, "Alright! It's more fun like that anyway, now we can both explore and you won't be bored either!" 

"I wouldn't have been bored either way."

"You know what I mean-"

The two of them bickered playfully, while making their way through the semi-crowded streets, up to a huge building, much like a mall except even more massive than any mall Hinata, or Atsumu for that matter, had ever seen. Once inside, Atsumu had a little bit of trouble finding the way to where he intended to go and ended up having to ask around a bit, but eventually, they just followed the masses to the entrance of the Aquarium housed inside this massive building block. 

The place seemed to be filled with visitors already, despite it still being relatively early in the morning, and so there were relatively long queues at the ticket stands.

"Are we going in there?", Hinata asked, his eyes wide open and seemingly sparkling with excitement, though he couldn't help but worry they wouldn't make it inside, "Do you think we'll get a ticket? It seems packed-"

Atsumu just pulled out two pieces of paper from his back pocket, holding them out to Hinata, "I took the liberty of reserving some for us", he said, cocking his head to the side slightly, making a point of looking u bothered, he most certainly was quite pleased with his plan of surprising Hinata with tickets having worked out.

And surprising Hinata, it did indeed. The redhead gasped and quickly snatched the tickets from Atsumu's hand, "Wow, wow, amazing- really, getting up early and now planning ahead, I might have to change my view on you-", he laughed heartily.

"Heheh, well! I'm full of surprises!", Atsumu grinned, reveling in his glory a little longer, before he pointed over at the entrance, "Alright, let's get in, we can skip the ticket line since we already have them-"

Hinata nodded happily and then marched off into the direction Atsumu had shown him.

The two checked in through the entrance and were almost immediately engulfed by a beautiful aquatic landscape, with big tanks filled to the brim with beautiful and exotic fish swimming around in them. The lights were somewhat dim, with the tanks being illuminated instead, drawing attention to the glittering scales of the fishes floating within them.

The two of them, being equally excitable people, stopped by every single tank in all of the many halls of the aquarium. They read each other the little trivia cards about the fish and called each other over to point out a particularly weird-looking fish whenever they encountered one. Every once in a while Hinata would jump in excitement at something interesting happening, grabbing Atsumu by his jacket and pulling him over to see what was going on, and at other times Atsumu would point at any brightly colored orange fish floating by, saying "found you", every time, without fail. 

The two of them got along splendidly, it didn't feel like they barely knew each other at all. Somehow their temperaments were lining up just right and the two of them were on one and the same wavelength at all times. 

"Oh- looks like there's a show happening soon, wanna go?", Atsumu called over at Hinata, he was standing in front of a timetable, looking through the dates for shows happening, "It's on the rooftop."

Hinata stuck his head out from behind him, trying to get a look at the timetable as well, "What show is it?", he asked, though there wasn't really a show he wouldn't be interested in seeing.

"Penguins.", Atsumu replied.

"Penguins!", Hinata gasped happily, his eyes widening at the thought of the happy little water birds, "Yes, yes, yes! Let's go see penguins! Come on!" 

Hinata turned around quickly, ready to run off towards the rooftop, but before he could take off, instinctively reached his hand back for the other to hold on to. Before Hinata even had the chance to realize what he had just done, Atsumu had already taken hold of it.

For a second Hinata felt like there was nothing else around him, than that feeling of Atsumu's lightly calloused, long fingers, wrapped around his, the warmth emitted by their palms gently brushing against each other, and the light pressure of Atsumu's bigger hand squeezing his own. He could feel his heartbeat picking up speed as if it were about to swallow him whole, and by the time he regained composure, Atsumu had already passed him and was now gently pulling him with him instead. 

Hinata didn't need to know how red his face was, he could tell from his cheeks burning with heat. He lifted his gaze up to look at the taller man: He really was handsome. But not just that, Hinata felt a special kind of warmth with him, he felt appreciated in a way he hadn't really felt before. He now lowered his gaze down to where their hands were. Atsumu's hands were larger, but not by much, yet they felt warm and encompassing around his and so did his grip. The way Atsumu held onto his hand was firm, but in a way that allowed him to move, even pull away if he wanted. He was gentle, in a determined way. 

Hinata wasn't done pondering about their current situation at all when they reached the rooftop and Atsumu ushered him down the rows of seats for the penguin show. Atsumu hadn't tried to let go of his hand and neither did Hinata and so when they sat down, their hands were still interlocked. The pounding in Hinata's chest was only getting more obnoxious, he was almost scared the other would be able to hear it, with how loud it seemed to echo inside his body. Just then he could feel a light squeeze on his hand. He looked up, Atsumu wasn't looking at him. In fact, he seemed to be trying to look purposely occupied looking at the penguins roaming around and getting progressively more excited at the prospect of food coming their way. Yet, he had just squeezed his hand, Hinata hadn't imagined that. He looked back down at their hands. Now that they were sitting, the way they were holding onto each other seemed a bit awkward, it'd be much nicer if they just… He gently fidgeted his fingers around, loosening them from Atsumu's grip and then gently interlacing them with his. There… much better.

Atsumu twitched lightly, feeling what Hinata was doing, he lightly opened his hands for him to have an easier time repositioning himself and once he felt all of Hinata's fingers perfectly intertwined with his, he closed his hand around him again, holding tightly onto him. He tried his hardest not to look at the ginger spiker, or else he felt he might burst, so instead he just let his thumb wander over the other’s fingers, caressing them as faintly and carefully as he possibly could.

Slowly the empty seats around them started to fill up, as other people flocked over to the penguin enclosure as well to watch their show. And with people pouring in the chatter around them got more and more lively. The two volleyball players, however, didn't talk, they just sat together in silence, getting used to their fingers innocently playing with one another. 

"Welcome!", A loud voice over the speakers announced and the surrounding noise died down as everyone diverted their attention to the aquarium worker having entered the enclosure now. Hinata's attention too was quickly taken away from the tingling sensation in his fingertips and as the show started and the trainer had the penguins jumping for treats, he reflexively tugged at Atsumu's hand, though the jolt of his arm was a little too sudden and he ended up pulling his hand away entirely. Hinata missed a breath, quickly reaching back to where Atsumu's hand had been before, but it wasn't there anymore, the setter had placed it back on his lap the second Hinata had jerked his own hand away and was now nervously kneading his hands together. A sharp pain resonated in Hinata's chest, he felt his jaw tighten a little bit, cursing himself for being so jumpy, before retreating his own hand into his hoodie's pocket as well.

The caretaker of the penguins was now introducing all the little guys by name, making them wave at the audience, before giving them a fish as a treat. They seemed so happy gulping down the sizable fish they were being fed, that it did a good job distracting Hinata from his feeling of disappointment over himself.

The aquarium worker just threw another fish into the air, some of the penguins racing to get to it first when the familiar voice right next to Hinata said something. "Is… isn't it weird that we're in an aquarium… but these fish are being used as food…", Atsumu didn't necessarily seem to be talking to Hinata at all, he had a genuine look of confusion on his face as if he'd just thought about one of the essential questions in life. 

"Huh…? What do you mean?", Hinata replied, looking up at the pondering blond next to him.

Atsumu's face flushed a little, "W-well, we go look at fish in an aquarium, but yet these guys are just food. That must be upsetting, right. You're being brought to an aquarium and you think, wow, a whole exhibit for me, but nah, you're just penguin food-", he awkwardly explained his thought process, the look on his face indicating he knew the ridiculous nature of his premise.

Hinata looked at him a little longer, scanning his face, as if to look for a sign of Atsumu joking, but the taller man seemed to be earnest in his statement. "Chrmmph", Hinata snorted, before bursting into laughter, "Hahah, I guess!", he chuckled happily, looking back over at another fish being made into penguin fodder, "Poor guys, I guess they weren't rare enough."

Atsumu's face turned another whole shade darker as Hinata laughed at him, "Are you saying some fish are more important than others?", he replied, with a bit of a pout on his lips.

"Mhm?", Hinata stopped laughing and now made a face as if in deep thought as well, finally concluding: "I guess so."

"That's even more upsetting then", Atsumu sighed, looking back over at the enclosure as well.

"I guess that is kinda sad", Hinata agreed with a nod, though he was still smiling happily, "I'm sure they appreciate your thoughts though."

"Thanks", Atsumu replied sarcastically, smiling once again as well.

Soon enough the penguin show was all done and the mood between the two had lightened once more with their insightful conversation about the mortality of fish. 

They looked through the test of the exhibits with the same amount of excitement as they had the ones before, though this time every time they saw a particularly bland fish they pointed it out instead, mentioning its possible relatedness to the penguin food from before.

But eventually, they've seen every possible tank and have watched every show that was supposed to come up and so the last thing to check out in the aquarium was the giftshop. Hinata got matching keychains for everyone in his team and Atsumu bought Hinata a little penguin plushie that had, "similar eyes", to Hinata, according to him.

Initially, Hinata refused to accept the gift, but when Atsumu threatened he wouldn't keep his promise of tossing to him again this evening, Hinata begrudgingly accepted. Though he had a most pleased look on his face when he left the giftshop with the plush in his arms. 

Hinata didn't walk too far before he stopped. He didn't want to leave quite yet. The day had been great and he wanted the other to know he appreciated it. "Atsumu", he said, the penguin pressed against his chest, "Thank you.", He looked up at him, a sincere look of gratitude all over his face, "This was really fun. I hadn't been to an Aquarium like this ever before, but even if it had been a small one, I'm really glad I got to see it with you."

Atsumu stopped when Hinata did, turning to face him as he spoke. "I'm glad you enjoyed it", he smiled happily in response, "I had fun too."

"You know, when it came to the reunion and all, I really hoped you'd come too, but I hadn't really expected you to. It's kind of hard to get a hold of you."

"...Ah, yeah… sorry about that, heh, wasn't sure if I could make it or not."

"Well, I'm glad you could.", Hinata looked sternly up at him now.

Atsumu felt an uneasy shiver going up his spine at Hinata's serious expression, "What's with that face, Shouyou- You're acting like you'll never see me again.", he jokingly reached over to pat Hinata's head, but the short ginger grabbed his hand instead, holding onto it tightly while looking into the taller man's eyes.

"I don't know when I'll see you again.", Hinata's voice sounded almost wounded, "Last time I regretted not talking to you more. So before we go back, before we leave, I want to be as direct with you, as you are with me."

"I'm not all that direct, at all, really, Shouyou…", Atsumu gently interjected, letting his fingers glide back in between Hinata's, "I could be much more direct."

"Well, what I mean is, I don't want this day to end already!", It erupted out of Hinata, his grip around Atsumu's hand tightening, as he held onto him, almost desperately. The other man may have had the bigger hands, but Hinata's grip was much stronger. 

As Atsumu looked down at Hinata, withstanding his intense eye contact and feeling his fingers crushed by Hinata's frantic grip, a warm, happy smile tugged on his lips. With his other hand he carefully reached down to lovingly enclose Hinata's airtight grip within his other hand, pulling it up close to his face, his expression changed and he gave Hinata the faintest smirk. "Who said we were leaving already?", he cooed softly against Hinata's hand, before planting the softest little kiss on them.

After a moment of utter silence, Hinata's face seemed to explode, blood rushing into it to color his face the deepest shade of red, his fingers lightly trembling where Atsumu's lips had touched them.

"O-oh…", is all Hinata managed to respond with. Atsumu was right, he hadn't said they were done at all yet. In fact, it was a little early for them to be done for the day, too. He had misread the room. He looked down in shame, his hand still up high where the other was holding it, he looked like a droopy little blob, melting away. "I-I'm sorry", he stammered, his crushing grip on the other's hands having loosed up entirely, "I thought…"

Atsumu didn't need him to explain, he understood him anyway, but it still made him smile all the more. "Don't worry", he chuckled, finally letting go of Hinata's trembling hand, which the bashful ginger quickly retreated to hug his new plush with. "But I am curious about what you mean by me being all direct-"

Hinata didn't look back at him, trying to hide his still very hot, red face. "Well… you call me by my first name, for example", he just mumbled, eager to let the conversation move on.

"You call me Atsumu too though, don't you-"

"That's different! There's two Miya-sans, that would be confusing…"

"Mhm, does nobody else call you Shouyou?"

"Not really, no, (except Kenma)", he added the last part in his head.

"Mhm, I like that, makes it even more special then."

"Yeah well, that's kind of the point with first names."

"Shh, shh, let me have this."

"..."

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for tuning in to the second chapter! I hope you enjoyed the little drawing of one of the last chapter's scenes too!  
> I'm having a really good time writing this fic and I hope you have a good time reading it too- expect more wholesome fluff to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of my little passion project.  
> Atsuhina is my personal favorite Hinata and/or Atsumu pairing and there's dangerously little content of it!  
> So enjoy this little story of pure fluff and clumsy attempts at showing affection.


End file.
